When most people think about Argentine asado, they picture meat sitting over an open parrilla with glowing embers underneath. That’s certainly at the heart of how I cook, but it isn’t the only cooking surface I use. One of the most useful components of my Argentine grill is actually a solid steel griddle, or plancha, […]
When most people picture an Argentine grill, one of the first things that comes to mind is the large wheel mounted beside the parrilla. Turn the wheel one way and the cooking grate rises away from the fire. Turn it the other way and the meat moves closer to the embers. It’s one of the […]
If you look closely at a traditional Argentine parrilla, you’ll often notice that the cooking grate is only part of the setup. Sitting alongside it, sometimes built directly into the brickwork and sometimes constructed as a separate steel basket, is another piece of equipment that plays an important role in how we cook asado: the […]
When people start researching an Argentine grill, one of the first design features they usually come across is the V-shaped grill grate. It has almost become part of the visual identity of the modern Argentine parrilla. Search for an Argentine grill online, particularly outside Argentina, and you’ll find manufacturers promoting V-shaped channels designed to catch […]
Spend enough time around asados in Argentina and you quickly realize something: the Argentine grill is only part of the equation. The parrilla matters, of course. But what really defines Argentine grilling is the relationship between the grill, the fire, the embers and the person cooking. I’ve lived in Argentina for more than 23 years, […]
Key Takeaways If you’re designing an outdoor grill station, it’s easy to start with the grill itself. In Argentina, we tend to think about it a little differently. The parrilla isn’t simply a metal grate sitting over a fire. It’s a complete cooking system built around controlling fire, embers, heat and cooking surface. I’ve cooked […]
KEY TAKEAWAYS Search for chimichurri and you will find seven or eight national versions presented as equivalent regional traditions. They are not equivalent, and pretending otherwise makes the whole subject harder to understand rather than easier. Two of them are genuinely chimichurri: the Argentine and the Uruguayan, which developed together in the Río de la […]
If you’ve ever squeezed a fresh lemon over grilled meat, you already know how much brightness and zesty magic it adds. But if you’ve never tried grilling the lemon first, you’re missing one of the simplest upgrades you can make to an asado. A few minutes over hot embers on the parrilla completely changes this […]
When most people think of a July 4th barbecue, the menu usually looks the same: burgers, hot dogs, and marinated chicken. Coming from Argentina, with many American friends, I have absolutely nothing against this, but rather would like to suggest a bit of Argie zest to the next 4th of July! So, if you’re looking […]
Torrontés is Argentina’s signature white wine – intensely aromatic on the nose, with orange blossom and peach, but almost always dry on the palate. That contrast is the whole story: it smells sweet and tastes crisp. It is at its best with spicy and aromatic food, empanadas, soft cheese and the lighter cuts off the […]
Rose meat is one of those cuts that sits quietly in the butcher’s case until you know what to look for. In Argentina, it is instantly recognizable, deeply traditional, and endlessly versatile. Known locally as matambre, rose meat plays a central role in Argentine asado culture and appears in everything from slow-simmered classics to hot-and-fast […]
Marinating steak in wine is not a traditional Argentine technique. In fact, most gauchos prefer simplicity and let the meat speak for itself. But in this experiment, I wanted to test something different, so I tried wine marinated steak. Could a full immersion in Argentine Malbec change the flavor profile of a premium pasture-raised ribeye? […]
